ABSTRACT
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a technique that detects structural features and dynamics at the molecular level. The method can be applied to samples in the solid, as well as the more common solution phase, and is well suited to examining the heterogeneous systems that most biominerals consist of. Solution-state NMR is vastly more common but is restricted as its name suggests to materials that are soluble and for which useful information can be obtained in its dissolved state. The organic component of bone contains very little phosphorus; the very vast majority is in the mineral phase and so that is what is observed in the 31P NMR spectrum. The resulting REDOR spectrum shows a reduction in signal intensity compared to the reference spectrum for signals associated with 13C species close in space to the mineral nucleus selected.
